Dominican Republic 2011 Recap

7 August 2011

I am so thrilled to tell you that the Lord is indeed good and kept my team and me healthy and safe while in the Dominican Republic and worked His mighty, miraculous power!  Thank you for those of you who were praying for us! 

I could write pages upon pages about my experiences there in the DR, but I will limit it down to some of the highlights of the trip that I’m ecstatic to share with you!

Our main focus was working with a Christian daycare (ages 6-11) in the city of Quisqueya, run by a lady named Mirqueya.  There are about 75 of the poorest of poor kids in the town who attend the daycare 5 days a week, where they learn about the Bible, learn basic educational skills and are fed a substantial lunch, which is often the only meal they get all day.  

Over the course of the week I had the privilege of helping to form a "children's choir" and teaching seven kids from the daycare some Spanish worship songs.  The kids were absolute delights.  It was challenging because we only had three days of rehearsal with the kids and the younger ones had a hard time focusing and learning the hand motions and words to the songs, but by the last day it was so rewarding to watch the choir perform their three songs in front of our whole 250 person group as well as their peers from the daycare.  They loved being up on stage!  

After rehearsal with the choir students in the mornings I met up with our "parent training" team of about five women who led a Bible study of 50+ Dominican mothers in a town called Placer Bonita.  I led the women in worship to end the study and was tremendously blessed to hear their hearts for God and passionate faith in spite of incredibly difficult circumstances- hunger, job loss and sickness.   We fed the ladies empanadas and got to spend time talking with them about what the Lord had been teaching them through His Word!    

The last day of the trip we were also able to visit the all-girl's orphanage that my family and I have been involved with since our first year in the Dominican Republic in 2008.  We have been able to visit each summer and keep in touch with some of the girls via mail throughout the year.

Thank you again for those of you who were supporting financially and through your prayers!  You are a blessing in my life.

Joy

Watch the slideshow of some pictures and video footage of our children's choir here:

DR Children's Choir